Losing Faith
by Katriona
Summary: Piper, Phoebe, and Paige must rescue a young girl in a routine demon-fight. But this girl may be more than just another innocent. Who is she, and how will the Charmed Ones react to the truth about her? Ch5 - Big revelation chapter up!
1. Default Chapter

Losing Faith  
  
Summary: Piper, Phoebe, and Paige must rescue a young girl in a routine demon-fight. But this girl may be more than just another innocent. Who is she, and how will the Charmed Ones react to the truth about her?  
  
Disclaimer: Anyone you recognise belongs to Spelling, the WB, and anyone else associated with the show. Faith... well, Faith belongs soley to herself. Everyone else is mine.  
  
A/N: This fic is set two years after season five. Piper is 32, Phoebe is 29, and Paige is 28. This is kinda irrelevent, but for anyone who's curious, that would have made Prue 34. Also, Paige got her job back at South Bay, and has since been promoted to social worker.  
  
****************  
  
"How much longer are we going to be here?"  
  
"Relax, Paige, the last time we scryed for him, he was right here. He'll show up soon."  
  
"That's what you said twenty minutes ago, Piper."  
  
"Hey, you two," Phoebe finally cut in. "If you don't stop fighting, he'll never come out, because he'll be too busy holding his hands over his ears... assuming he has ears... or hands..."  
  
Piper and Paige exchanged guilty glances. After four years, Phoebe was getting very good at being the middle child.  
  
"Okay, well, while we're waiting, why don't you tell us again exactly what you saw?" Piper asked, hoping this would distract Paige.  
  
Phoebe sighed. She'd already gone over her premonition with them several times, but Piper was right. If they didn't do something even semi-constructive soon, they were all going to die of impatience. "Okay. There was a demon, who I couldn't see too clearly, attacking a girl. The girl had dark hair, light eyes, and... looked... kinda like... that..." she trailed off, pointing to a teenager across the street.  
  
"That must be our innocent. Alright, let's move," Piper ordered. The sisters started off toward her, but they were intercepted when the demon chose that moment to show up.  
  
"It's about damn time," Paige muttered. To Piper, she yelled, "Freeze him!"  
  
"I can't!" Piper called back.  
  
A gust of wind rose up around them, causing the innocent to shiver. The girl still didin't turn. It wasn't until the demon was directly behind her that she gave any indication at all of knowing anyone was there.  
  
As he went to grab her, she whirled around, delivering a perfect kick to the face. The demon recoiled, but didn't give up. He lunged at her, and she ducked, flipping him over her with her legs. She jumped back up, but the demon, ashamed of being beaten by such a young, wiry little thing, blinked out.  
  
"That. Kicked. Ass." Paige said, as she and her sisters ran up next to the girl.  
  
The innocent shrugged. "I'm a black belt. I could've done better."  
  
"I don't know, that was pretty damn awesome," Piper replied.  
  
"If you say so," the girl responded. "Hey, now that everything's all said and done, d'you mind telling me what the hell that thing was?"  
  
The Charmed Ones exchanged sidelong glances, wondering how to approach this.  
  
"Sure..." Phoebe started. "But it's kinda cold out here. Maybe you should come back to our house, and we'll tell you all about it there. Okay?"  
  
The innocent nodded. "Why not? Not like I've got anything better to do."  
  
Piper put her arm around the girl and led her to the car. "Great. It's settled then. Let's go, because it really is cold out here." 


	2. Chapter 2

"So, let's start with the basics," Paige suggested. They were all seated around the living room, and there was a fire burning to warm them up. "Introductions might be good. I'm Paige, and those are my sisters, Piper and Phoebe."  
  
"Name's Faith," the innocent introduced herself.  
  
"Nice to meet you, Faith," Piper said warmly. There was something about this girl; her intense blue eyes, made even more striking by the startling contrast of her raven hair, her independent, careless attitude; something that struck a chord with Piper's maternal instincts, making her want to reach out to Faith although she didn't quite know why or how.  
  
"So, Faith," Phoebe started, interrupting Piper's train of thought, "How old are you?"  
  
"Sixteen," the girl answered. "I'll be seventeen in the summer."  
  
The sisters each raised their eyebrows. With her black lipstick, short leather skirt, low top, and high-heeled boots, she looked much older than sixteen. They'd all thought her to be nineteen at the very least, with possible guesses ranging from that to the mid-twenties.  
  
"Maybe we should call your parents..." Paige suggested warily.  
  
Faith shook her head. "Don't bother. I'm on my own."  
  
"Faith, there's got to be somebody worried about you," Piper said.  
  
Again, the child shook her head. "My adoptive parents died when I was six. I tried to find my birth family, but that was a bust, so I dropped it. I got put into a few foster homes, but none of them worked out, so I bailed. And now that you've all heard my sob story, can someone please tell me what the hell it was that tried to kill me back there?"  
  
"A bit impatient," Phoebe remarked, glancing at Paige. "Sounds like somebody else I know..."  
  
Paige glared at her sister, then turned to Faith. "Okay, you want to know what he was? A demon. He was a demon. And we're witches, Piper, Phoebe, and I. The Charmed Ones, specifically. Is any of this making any sense?"  
  
"Oh yeah," Faith said, "It's making perfect sense. I know exactly what's going on. But hell, at least now I know I'm not the only one out of my damn mind."  
  
"Faith, I know how hard it is to believe in things that you've spent your whole life thinking were made up," Piper said. "We've all been through it, and we'll help you deal, but first we need to find out why he's after you. Paige, Phoebe, take Faith and go look through the Book of Shadows. I'll see if I can find Leo-" Just then, they heard a toddler crying. "-Right after I check on Wyatt," Piper finished. She ran upstairs to her son's bedroom, as Phoebe and Paige led a skeptical Faith up to the attic.  
  
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=  
  
"Okay, so let's pretend for a second like we're not all going psycho here," Faith started as the entered the attic. "You're witches. What do you do? Can you fly around on a broomstick? Wear pointy hats? Dance naked under the full moon?"  
  
"Well, I flew on a broomstick once," Phoebe answered. "See, me, Piper, and our other sister, Prue, went back to the past, to save our ancestor, Melinda, and her mother, Charlotte. We couldn't use our powers, and had to learn how to do things the old-fashioned way, which was actually modern at the time, but-"  
  
"I think what she's trying to say," Paige interrupted. "Is yes, only on Halloween, and occassionally."  
  
Phoebe glared at her. "Once. Once is not 'occassionally'. And Piper will kill you if you ever mention that again."  
  
"Mention what?" Piper demanded, coming up the attic stairs with two-year-old Wyatt in her arms. Leo was right behind her.  
  
"Nothing," Phoebe, Paige, and Faith chorused.  
  
Piper raised an eyebrow, but let it go. "Leo, this is Faith, the innocent I told you about. Faith, this is my husband, Leo, and our son, Wyatt."  
  
"Hey," Faith nodded.  
  
"Nice to meet you," Leo replied. "So, Piper tells me you more than held your own with that Goron demon. That's pretty damn good, especially for someone with no magical training."  
  
Faith shrugged. "Martial arts has always been my thing. I'm a black belt in karate, plus, yanno, the whole living-on-the-street thing. I like it enough, but I got into plenty of fights before I had these Gordo-whatever things on my ass. It can get to be a bitch, you know?"  
  
"What exactly is a Goron demon?" Phoebe asked.  
  
"Oh, um, I'm not exactly sure," Leo stammered. "I just know the name, and very little about them, but what I do know fits exactly with everything Piper told me."  
  
"Okay," Piper said, looking at her husband suspiciously. She knew that he knew a lot more than he was letting on. He shook his head at her, nodding in the direction of Faith, who fortunately didn't notice.  
  
"Hey, do you guys really get to use these things, like, on a regular basis?" Faith asked, picking up one of the sisters' athames and running her finger along the blade.  
  
"Yes," Piper said as she gave Wyatt to his Aunt Paige and took the ceremonial knife from Faith. "Be careful. You could get cut."  
  
Faith shrugged. Piper had looked so worried, seeing the teen playing with the dagger, that she didn't have the heart to tell her that she'd been cutting herself for years and that a little scratch wouldn't hurt her. "So when do I learn about all this magic shit you all seem to think I can do?"  
  
"Tomorrow," Leo said just a little too quickly. Faith looked up sharply.  
  
"What he means is, it's late," Piper reiterated. "Why don't we get you set up in the guest room, and we'll all talk about this tomorrow after we've had some sleep?"  
  
Faith nodded indifferently, though inside she was thrilled at the prospect of having a nice, warm bed to sleep in instead of the usual dirty motel rooms and dark alleyways she called home. Trying not to seem too eager, she followed the sisters downstairs. 


	3. Chapter 3

When Piper, Phoebe, and Paige had gotten Faith settled, and Piper had put Wyatt down to sleep as well, the sisters went into the kitchen to talk to Leo.  
  
"Okay, spill it," Piper said. "What do you know about her?"  
  
"I don't know anything about her, specifically," Leo corrected. "I do, however, know something about the Goron demons that may or may not pertain to her."  
  
"And do you feel like sharing with the class?" Phoebe asked impatiently, in the tone of a teacher asking a student to read his note out loud.  
  
"Gorons are a special type of demon. They mainly go after two types of people: very powerful witches, and witches who are alone or don't know that they're witches. Either of these could apply to Faith, or neither could. Gorons don't always go after who they're traditionally supposed to. They've been known to attack a variety of innocents, witches, reletives of witches, future whitelighters, anyone who's destined for some kind of great good," he explained.  
  
"So how do we find out which one Faith is?" Paige asked.  
  
"Well if she is a witch, she doesn't seem to know it," Piper said slowly. "But I don't know. She didn't seem like a witch. She just seemed like a normal girl. Except... alone."  
  
Phoebe and Paige nodded. They'd all been wondering how such a young girl could have ended up on her own.  
  
"Maybe we should talk to her, find out more about her past," Phoebe suggested.  
  
"She mentioned that she was adopted," Paige added. "Maybe I could run her name through the computers at work, and see if I come up with anything."  
  
"That's probably a good idea," Piper agreed, "But can you do it without attracting any attention? Because you know, technically she's a runaway from foster care, and we don't want your co-workers finding out about this and trying to take her. She can't go back until we know she's safe."  
  
Paige nodded. "I know. I'll be careful."  
  
"And what are we going to do with her in the meantime?" Phoebe asked.  
  
"We'll keep her here, of course," Piper answered plainly. "It's not like she's got anywhere else to go, I mean, we can't just put her back on the streets."  
  
"Actually, Piper, and I'm not saying that we should put her back on the streets, but she seemed like she could handle herself more than adaquately," Paige countered. "Aside from being a black belt, she just has this whole 'don't-mess-with-me' vibe."  
  
"She probably had to learn street smarts at an early age," Piper said. "After all, she hasn't had a real family since she was six."  
  
"Hey, I just thought of something," Phoebe interrupted. "How did she become a black belt if she's been in foster homes since she was little?"  
  
"That's a good point," Piper mused. "Ask her."  
  
Phoebe nodded. "Tomorrow, I will."  
  
"We should probably also find out how long she's had these Goron demons after her," Piper continued. "It might help us pinpoint why."  
  
"We'll need more information on the Gorons themselves," Paige added. She looked over her shoulder at the Book of Shadows.  
  
Piper read her sisters expression, and shook her head. "Not tonight, Paige. It's already late, and there's no telling how long it could take us to find some information in the book. Phoebe, Faith, and I will look through it while you're at work tomorrow."  
  
"Do you really think that's a good idea? Letting Faith look through the Book of Shadows?" Phoebe questioned.  
  
Piper nodded. She felt a closeness with Faith, a kind of familiarity and kinship she couldn't explain, that made her think that the girl should know everything they did about the Gorons, and even about magic in general, and in turn made Piper want to know everything she could about the girl. Phoebe felt it too, to a small degree, and Paige even less. Neither of them felt it the way Piper did.  
  
Leo, who had been unusually quiet throughout the conversation, suddenly got up. "It really is late," he announced. "And you've all got a big day tomorrow, what with Faith and all. You girls should get some sleep."  
  
"Are you coming to bed?" Piper asked him as she and her sisters rose to their feet.  
  
He shook his head. "Not right away. I want to go check something Up There."  
  
She kissed him good-night as her sisters went downstairs, then watched him orb out. Alone in the attic, she frowned, her eyebrows furrowed in thought. He'd seemed very preoccupied since she told him about Faith, and something about the way he'd said he'd wanted to 'check something' seemed off. Even his kiss had been quicker, more forced than usual.  
  
Piper sighed, and turned out the light. She knew her husband, and she knew that something just wasn't right here. She just hoped he'd tell her what...  
  
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *  
  
A/N: Just so you know, that bit with Leo *will* be resolved. Eventually. :P  
  
A/N2: Some of you are wondering if the title character of this fic is the same Faith as the other Slayer in BtVS. Well, you're half right. I did base this Faith on the one from my other favourite show, but it's not a Charmed/Buffy crossover, so no, she's not the same character. 


	4. Chapter 4

The next morning, Paige came downstairs to grab something to eat before heading off to work. She paused in the kitchen doorway, admiring the scene. Piper was busy making more pancakes, while Phoebe tried to get a very picky Wyatt to eat something. Faith was also at the table, in the tank top and sweatpants she'd borrowed from Piper to sleep in. Paige frowned, making a mental note to take the girl shopping sometime soon. Although Phoebe and Paige were constantly teasing Piper for being so tiny, even the smallest clothes she could find were a tad too big for wiry, small-boned Faith. Aside from this, however, Paige was surprised at how easily Faith fit into the family's morning routine. Now that she'd taken a shower and removed her make-up, her face was clearly visible, and she even resembled the sisters, though only slightly. She looked like she belonged there.  
  
Piper looked up and smiled as her youngest sister came in. "Hey, Paige, sit down. I'm making pancakes."  
  
"No pancakes," Wyatt said stubbornly. He used his whitelighter power of telekinesis to throw his plate across the room. Piper froze it before it hit the wall.  
  
"Cool power, kid," Faith commented.  
  
"Don't encourage him," Piper begged, setting the plate on the table and doing her best to clean pancakes and syrup that were still in mid-air. "Maybe we should bind his powers, at least until he's out of the 'terrible twos'."  
  
Wyatt shook his head, his sandy blonde hair falling over his eyes, and sent his mother an adorable, toothy grin.  
  
Piper sighed, looking to her sisters for help. Phoebe turned to her small nephew, and exhasperatedly said, "Okay, Wyatt. We've established that you don't like pancakes."  
  
"No pancakes," the toddler repeated proudly.  
  
"That's right," Paige agreed in a no-nonsense tone, "But you have to eat something. What'll it be, buddy?"  
  
Wyatt thought for a minute. "Puff-puffs!"  
  
Piper rolled her eyes frustratedly. 'Puff-puffs' were Wyatt's term for Cocoa-Puffs. Piper's term for them was 'Hyperactivity-Inducing Death Balls'. They tended to make Wyatt a bit more wild than usual. "No puff-puffs," she told him. Wyatt pouted, but then Faith stepped in.  
  
"Hey, kid, look," she said, arranging the blueberries on her pancake to look like two eyes, and drawing a mouth in maple syrup. "A smiley face."  
  
Wyatt stared at the pancake for a minute, and then reached out for it. Faith gladly handed it over after cutting it into pieces small enough for the toddler.  
  
"That is so amazing, Faith," Piper said. "I haven't been able to get him to eat pancakes in over a month. How did you know to do that?"  
  
Faith shrugged. "In one of my foster homes, I was the oldest of six. I was only there for about two months, but I picked up a lot."  
  
"How long ago was this?" Paige asked.  
  
"A few years ago," Faith replied. "It was one of the first homes they put me in."  
  
Paige made a mental note to check this out. It may not help with the demon-fighting, but understanding Faith's background could come in handy nonetheless. "I have to get to work," she announced, grabbing a bagel to eat in the car. "I'll see you guys later. Love you."  
  
"Love you, too," her sisters chorused as she left.  
  
Piper served Faith another plate of pancakes. "So, Faith, what do you want to do today?"  
  
"I thought you guys were going to explain to me what the hell was going on last night," she answered.  
  
Piper, knowing full well that she wouldn't be able to distract the girl that easily, just nodded. "Oh, we will. But I thought we could wait until Paige gets back. She took a year off to study magic around the time Wyatt was born, so she might be able to explain some of this better than Phoebe or I could."  
  
Faith looked at her strangely, then shrugged. "That's cool. I guess a few more hours won't do me in."  
  
"Okay, then," Phoebe cut in. "In the meantime, I was going to go shopping today. Wanna come?"  
  
"Sure," Faith agreed. "Just give me a sec to get dressed." She took one last bite of breakfast, and ran upstairs. Piper and Phoebe stared after her.  
  
"So, you wanna explain to me why you want to wait for Paige before getting into the magic stuff?" Phoebe asked her big sister.  
  
"I told you, Paige actually studied this stuff," Piper replied. "She learned everything by-the-book, so she'd be able to feild questions better."  
  
Phoebe raised an eyebrow. "We've got three years on Paige. We'd be able to explain this stuff just as well as she can, and you know it. So why are you stalling?"  
  
Piper sighed. "I don't know. Something just feels off about this whole situation. We don't know where she came from, or why we of all people found her."  
  
"Because she's an innocent, and we're supposed to save her," Phoebe answered. "You know how that works by now. It's not like this is the first time an innocent has come to us."  
  
"I know," Piper answered. "This one just feels different."  
  
"Different how?" Phoebe demanded, frustrated at her sister's sudden change from wanting to tell Faith all about magic to avoiding discussion of the subject with the girl completely.  
  
Piper shrugged, not really sure of her own reasons. "I don't know. It's just... My instincts on this one are totally conflicted. On one hand, there's this feeling that she belongs here, and that she has every right to know what we do about magic, and this whole other world that she's obviously somehow a part of. On the other hand, I've got this urge to protect her from all of this. I know it sounds silly, because she's had to be so grown up, and she's proved she can handle herself if and when she has to, but Pheobe, she's just a little girl."  
  
Phoebe put an arm her sister, giving Piper a half-smile. "Honey, that's not magic; it's motherhood. Since Wyatt was born, you've learned to rely on your maternal instincts, and it naturally spills over to any other kid you need to protect. It makes perfect sense that you'd react this way with Faith, because her home life is so unstable."  
  
"You think that's at it is?" Piper questioned. Phoebe nodded. Piper frowned, still unconvinced, but decided to drop it as their innocent came bounding back into the room.  
  
"You guys ready to go?" she asked.  
  
"Yeah, just about," Piper replied, eyeing Faith's torn dark-blue tank top and tight leather pants. It had been the only outfit the girl had brought in her small black backpack, and it greatly contributed to her kick-ass attitude. Piper decided that a change in wardrobe was definately in order. She cleaned Wyatt up, while Phoebe put the dishes in the sink to be dealt with later. With the kitchen and the toddler both reletively neat, Piper and Phoebe grabbed their purses, Faith picked up an unusually cooperative Wyatt, and they set out for the mall. 


	5. Chapter 5

Three hours later, Piper, Phoebe, Faith, and Wyatt returned to the manor with a lot less money and a lot more bags than they'd left with. Piper, although disappointed that she hadn't been able to talk Faith into buying anything that didn't resemble her present wardrobe of short skirts, leather pants, and clingy tops, was happy that she'd been able to share a somewhat normal aspect of daily life - namely, shopping - with this girl who was anything but normal.  
  
They were just setting their packages down when Paige came into the foyer to greet them.  
  
"Honey, what are you doing home so early?" Phoebe asked.  
  
"I'm on my lunch break," she explained. "I figured I come check on things."  
  
"So, does this mean you're going to tell me about magic now?" asked Faith.  
  
Piper suddenly became uncomfortable. "Um, we need to talk something over first, honey. Can you put Wyatt down for his nap?"  
  
"Sure," Faith said wearily. She hated having people put her off, although she was used to it by now. She took the little boy's hand, and led him upstairs, glancing frustratedly back at his mother.  
  
"Okay, what was that about?" Phoebe asked once Faith was out of earshot. "I thought we had this talk, Piper. You can't keep beating around the bush with her."  
  
"Okay, wait, I don't know what you guys are arguing about now, but we really do need to talk," Paige interrupted.  
  
Piper and Phoebe stared at her, not used to their youngest sister acting as peacemaker.  
  
"Look, I found something on the computers at work that I think you should know about," Paige continued. "I went into Faith's records, everything from her adoption records on. I couldn't really get any information on her biological parents, because her mother was only 17 when she was born. But on one of her adoption papers, where her biirth mother gave up her parental rights, she was identified by an alias - 'Minor Halliwell'. Do you guys know something I don't?"  
  
Piper and Phoebe shook their heads; both were clearly shocked.  
  
"No," Piper said, "But we're going to find out."  
  
She grabbed her sisters and marched up to the attic. They were intercepted on the second floor by an increasingly impatient Faith.  
  
"You guys have to tell me something eventually. If these things are out to get me, then I think I deserve to know what the hell they are before they try to kill me again."  
  
Piper sighed, not in the mood for an arguement. "Fine. You want to see magic? Come with us." She led the rest of the way to the attic, going straight to the Book of Shadows.  
  
"Um, Piper?" Paige questioned, "What are we doing?"  
  
"We are finding out what the hell all of this means, once and for all," Piper answered, flipping to the page in the book with the spell to summon the dead.  
  
"Uh, honey, Faith is alive, and as far as we know, so are the Goron demons," Phoebe pointed out. "How is this going to help us, exactly?"  
  
"I don't know," Piper said quickly, "But I guess we're about to find out."  
  
Phoebe and Paige exchanged glances. They were both thinking the same thing: She's lost it. They stood back as she recited the spell, waiting for Grams to appear and confirm their suspicion Instead, they got...  
  
"Prue?!?" Piper exclaimed upon seeing the ghost of her big sister.  
  
"Piper," Prue returned, clearly glad to be there. "And Phoebe... Oh, and Paige, I can't believe I'm finally seeing you... And... Oh my God," she breathed upon seeing the girl standing in the corner. "Faith?"  
  
Faith stepped out of dark attic corner. "Yeah; you know me?"  
  
Prue let out a heavy sigh. She knew that the girl wouldn't recognize her, but she still felt a tiny twinge at the blank, guarded expression in those ice-blue eyes that were so much like her own. She corporealized, then took a step toward the teen. "Yeah, I know you," she said with a smile. "Faith... I'm your mother."  
  
"My... what?" Faith questioned, backing away. "No. You can't be. My mother's name was Veronica, and she was short, with blonde hair, and she always used to wear this apron that I liked to play with when I was little, and you aren't her."  
  
Prue's expression became serious. "I know. I know how wonderful your adoptive mother was to you, and I know you think I'm just a stranger, but please, sit down and let me explain." Casting a glance back to her clearly shocked sisters, she added, "Let me explain to all of you."  
  
Piper, Phoebe, Paige, and a reluctant Faith assembled themselves on the couch, while Prue perched on an old rocking chair. Piper took a deep breath, and asked, "How, um, how is this possible? That Phoebe and I don't remember her, I mean. This isn't exactly something we'd forget easily. Did Grams cast a spell or something?"  
  
Prue nodded slowly. "Yes, that was part of it, although I didn't know it at the time. See, I was only 17 when I got pregnant. I wanted to keep the baby, but I knew that I needed a college education in order to get a good job, and that if I didn't secure my own future first, I'd never be able to take care of a child. I planned on going to night school, so that I could have a job during the day, but as much as I wanted that to work, I knew it wouldn't. Grams was having enough trouble taking care of Piper and Phoebe as it was, without bringing an infant into it, too. Also, I guess she knew that once I got my powers, it wouldn't be safe for a child. She told me not to tell anyone that I was pregnant, and then I guess she cast a glamor or something to hide it. Since nobody else knew, I had to figure out what to do all by myself. The more I thought about it, the more I realized that I couldn't give you the life you deserve." At this point, a few tears started rolling down her face. She wiped them away with the back of her hand, and continued. "I didn't want to give you up, Faith. If there was any way I could have kept you, and given you every oppurtunity that I wanted for you, I would have done it. Grams made me see that someone else could, someone who would love you just as much as I do. If either of us had known what would happen, then I never would have let you leave my sight, destiny be damned."  
  
"Destiny?" Faith repeated. Of everything she'd just heard, this seemed like the easiest to deal with.  
  
Prue nodded. "Yeah. Faith, everything happens for a reason. I believe that, and now you have to."  
  
Faith shook her head. "No. No, I don't have to believe anything. There was no reason for my parents to die, no reason for me to grow up the way I did." She shrugged, as if indifferent to the whole thing. "But it doesn't matter. What's done is done, you know? No use wishing for things you don't got. Right now, I'd just like to know what the hell is going on."  
  
"There was a reason, Faith," Prue insisted. "You'll learn it soon enough, I promise." She looked up, her expression becoming troubled. "I have to go. I'll be back later. I love you."  
  
She stepped back into the circle, and, before the eyes of her confused family, faded away.  
  
****************  
  
A/N: Okay, so you finally know who Faith is. Congrats to Vanessa for being the only person to guess in advance. :D 


End file.
